American History II Ms. Moore The Gilded Age American History II Ms. Moore

Moving Forward After the Civil War, the U.S. entered an era known as the Gilded Age when America experienced rapid changes It was a time of expansion, innovation, immigration and corruption. While the Civil War had reunited the Union, the gilded age would expose the vast differences between the various regions of the United States.

The South in the Gilded Age The Civil War has ended (1861-1865) Reconstruction is over Last federal troops left in 1877 Life has changed drastically in the South Slavery is banned 13th Amendment Some slaves moved North Many were in the South and forced into sharecropping and tenet farming and were put in a cycle of constant debt and poverty Why would all slaves not just move out of the South? Rutherford B. Hayes being sworn in as President. Hayes became president thanks to the Compromise of 1877 that officially ended Reconstruction in the South.

Freedman sells crop and pays rent to land owner Tenant Farming Freedman rents land from White land owner and chooses what crop to plant and sell Freedman sells crop and pays rent to land owner

Jim Crow South The end of reconstruction brought the democratic party back into power into the South. Jim Crow were laws passed in support of segregation Many deemed themselves “redeemers” These men hoped to replace federal troops with “home rule” Redeemers sought to save the south from “Negro Rule”

Jim Crow South One major tactic used by Redeemers was that of intimidation KKK formed Whites would use scare tactics to keep blacks from voting Vote=voice The KKK began in Tennessee and quickly spread to every southern state. The KKK worked to disenfranchise blacks and keep them from gaining political and economic power.

New Economy in the South After the Civil War some Southern cities such as Richmond, VA began seeing small industrial growth Some blacks and former white farmers began working in factories and other manual labor jobs Tobacco and textile factories began to dot the South White Workers in Tobacco Factory, The Land Owner, February 1874, (Chicago Historical Society)

Moving West Some African Americans moved West after Reconstruction ended Encouraged by Benjamin Singleton Goal was to create separate communities in the west Referred to as “Exodusters” because they saw the West as their promised land. More than 15,000 African Americans left the South for the promises of the West. "The West has always been seen as a place of opportunity. And this was certainly as true for people of African descent as for anybody else. Singleton and other leaders weren't necessarily doing it for purely altruistic reasons. Like a lot of great westerners they were speculators in land and hoped to make their fortunes. But they did have a vision of a place where people of color could breathe free..."  Bill Gwaltney

The West in the Gilded Age America’s Frontier The West in the Gilded Age